site.btaArtist Evgeni Serafimov Presents "Buffaloes" Multimedia Project in Kyustendil on May 23

Artist Evgeni Serafimov’s multimedia project “Buffaloes” will be the highlight of European Night of Museums in Kyustendil on May 23. The exhibition will open at 9 p.m. at the Pirgova Tower and will feature 20 paintings accompanied by texts compiled in a book, music, and a 3D mapping visualization.

Speaking to BTA, the artist explained that the project began three years ago, when the first images of buffaloes appeared in his mind. "I just watched the film and painted the pieces of the puzzle," Serafimov recounted. Each painting in the series is accompanied by a text written at the moment of its creation. "A few months ago, I realized that these texts are connected. These twenty paintings tell a single story - a bit like a series. And the last one, titled 'Return,' closes the loop," he added.

He has compiled the texts into a book that serves as a verbal illustration of the visual project. It will be presented alongside the exhibition. “We are used to paintings being illustrations of words, but here the words are illustrations of the paintings,” the artist explained.

The exhibition is arranged so that the viewer passes through five "layers of consciousness" across the five floors of the Pirgova Tower. "The lower floors pose questions, passing through various feelings and emotions, and the answer comes on the top floor," the artist said. According to him, the final painting in the series summarizes the meaning of the entire project. “With it, the exhibition transforms from an accusation into an awareness,” he told BTA.

The project views the buffalo not only as an aesthetic image, but also as a bearer of historical and ancestral memory. "These are beloved animals for all of us Bulgarians. They take us straight back in time - to the classics, to our ancestral memory," said Serafimov. "This is an exhibition that traverses nostalgia, accusation, and frustration -when, during collectivization [in socialist Bulgaria], these buffaloes were forcibly taken from their families," the artist explained, adding: "Forgiveness is sought. And with the twentieth painting, it is found." 

The project also includes a musical element. Four groups from Kyustendil, across the country, and from Europe are creating their own interpretations on the theme of “Buffaloes.” On the stage in front of the tower, they will perform their compositions, and the evening will conclude with experimental electronic music by Kyustendil-born Deyan Dimitrov.

Architect Tina Chaova, a native of Kyustendil who graduated from Antwerp in Belgium, is preparing a 3D mapping visualization. “She brought the buffaloes to life and created a very beautiful presentation. Against the backdrop of electronic music, the exhibition will flow out from the tower’s battlements and will be visible to everyone,” Serafimov told BTA.